District 9

Earlier this week I had the chance to check out G.I. Joe over at the AMC. I think Rebecca and I agreed in the end that it was fun (and funny). I got exactly what I wanted from that picture, which was mindless, geeky entertainment. Watching District 9 within days of of that other film, though ... has given me sci-fi whiplash.

District 9 is a complex, intelligent, visceral, disrtubing film. It is emotionally self-aware, historically self-aware, and does what all great sci-fi does - it tells a story connected essentially to our humannity and hinges that story on something that doesn't really exist. It's great what-if material, so in my mind it sits very nicely next to Sunshine and Eternal Sunshine as cinema that looks deeply at human beings by way of a far-fetched premise. Children of Men comes to mind also, but that film didn't move me to discomfort as much as this one did, and that's saying something.

Over at AICN, Harry Knowles has hyperbolized a bit by glazing over mention of two of the other films above to claim that District 9 is the first great sci-fi of this new millenium. I think that's hyperbole, at any rate. Any of the three above are great in my eyes, and they're all remarkably different. District 9 is without a doubt the ugliest exploration of the human heart, however.

It isn't that there are no virtues in the frame. But the characters (the human ones, anyway) of this picture are mostly vile. And mostly self-interested. Ignorant. Power-hungry. Just plain stupid. And stupidity, even, in this film is depicted as shockingly dangerous and evil. The plot here unfolded to leave me embarrassed to be a human. The aliens, who live throughout a slum outside Johanesburg in their own filth to be ruled by gang law and who eat cat food for lack of a better option, come out looking far better. It's a comparison that just doesn't sit right.

I don't want to break down plot because I found myself in the rare position of watching this film without trailers and press coverage having ruined the overall story. It's how you should watch it to.

Mention should be made of first-time feature director Neill Blomkamp and his deft control of every aspect of this film. It turns on a dime so many times that I had no idea where we would head next. The effects were flawlessly integrated, and the action was tightly accomplished without ever being confusing. Impressive for doc-style shooting.

Also, first-time actor Sharlto Copley provides the most unlikely and well-performed protagonist that I can currently think of. Never have I so HATED a character before and yet been completely willing to follow him along as the film moves forward.

Some people will probably dislike District 9, but that's alright. It really isn't for everyone. It's great, but it's sci-fi, and it's brilliant but it's unpleasant (to put it lightly) much more than seldom. If you can stomach it, though, prepare your brain and glue your eyes to the screen. It's no G.I. Joe.